The EV BMW 3-Series you can’t buy - BMW I3 eDrive 35L

[@urbanstrencan]

This is what BMW should do in Europe with series years ago😊❤❤ Great video

[@melonmelon2848]

FullyCharged sent me here ⚡ A normal looking electric sedan across the international market, BMW is missing out there man

[@_MANASYt]

I'm in China and my wife says the price has gone down on this...I was eyeing the Smart #3 before...😊

[@martrich1098]

Great Review Elliot - nice to say a good comparison of European and Chinese EVs and what consumers in each market are after. Keep em coming!

[@electricelliotrichards]

Thanks Martin!

[@mavrik7777]

i have one with the 250 kw engine 340 hp its a super comfortable and very nice ride

[@sharkflower123]

Looks better than the i4. I would buy a BMW i3 Touring, if available...

[@electricelliotrichards]

Now you are talking...

[@JonathanPorterfield]

Great review Elliot , what are BMW thinking ? This would sell sell sell in the UK (with CCS of course ) if it was priced right.

[@stephenodonohue9876]

Hey Richard, love the channel. I think you meant the BMW is in the Top 10% in driving. If it's in the Top 90%... then it could be as low as the 90th out of a hundred cars.

[@electricelliotrichards]

That was my brain fart...thats what I meant :D

[@petersilva037]

I find myself using the driving aids on long highway journeys a lot... you should include lane centering & adaptive cruise control in your checkliist of things tot try.

[@verynick]

Just got the i4 and regret not getting the professional driving in US and I go on hwy journey all the time. Going to give myself end of the year to get used to the reg cruise control if I’d like it

[@Astke]

​@@verynickgot the i4 myself. And a late one with iDrive 8.5. It is so much better. And with driving assistant with auto steer it works quite well.

[@experimental_av]

Ironic that they don't bring it to other markets given the success of the original i3

[@karlInSanDiego]

I believe BMW considered this to be a sprint-to-market compromise in a place where it might be accepted as good enough. Where the i4 G26 (beaver) was redesigned for max aero efficiency, this i3 was an afterthought. Still a cool car and I'd say was a mistake to not offer it globally at the time. Instead they vowed to NOT globally electrify their bread and butter 3 series until the Neue Klasse ground up redesign.

[@Thorsted1981]

This is exactly the kind of EV I want to buy… Why is this not available in EU?

[@xenomorph1317]

Cant wait to get it to come to Europe!

[@Mi82475]

12:42 yeah there's a lot of after market fake carbon in that sweet BMW

[@electricelliotrichards]

It made everything so much more uncomfortable

[@Astke]

Ah it is aftermarket lol

[@supernovadw]

It's not only sold in China. It's sold in Laos, Cambodia, Egypt and Uzbekistan. Maybe other places too but definitely in these places.

[@electricelliotrichards]

Didn’t know that - through official channels or grey imports from China?

[@supernovadw]

@electricelliotrichards the BMW dealer in Lao sells it, there's tons of grey imports here too. Other countries I can't comment on if available officially or not though.

[@mavrik7777]

im located in egypt and i bought one but very strange my car I3 E35 came with the 250 kw engine and 592km batt.?im very happy with it specially in driving highways and traveling actual range i did on 120 km speed a/c on 3 was 454 km travelling range

[@bingoman55]

حضرتك جبت عربيتك من الوكيل ولا من الصين ؟

[@bingoman55]

@@mavrik7777حضرتك جبت عربيتك من الوكيل في مضر ولا من الصين ؟

[@raoullaskin9083]

I own the BMW I3. eDrive 40L, and I feel that it is super fast. The torque from 70 to 120KM is insane, and that's when it really matters. As for the screen, it is okay, and it has an APPLE CARPLAY. The issue with this car is that it is underequipped for the price. Another problem is that there is very little room to put your things in the car. Finally, yeah, the charging and the battery are not first-class... They feel old and tired. Especially now in the winter in Shanghai. Finally, if you want a better car that has an amazing interior while staying with an EV bimmer you gotta check out the I5 M60. That car is a rocket.

[@cheuklungli547]

You can get these Brand new from BMW dealership in China as low as $25,000USD. Such a steal!

[@electricelliotrichards]

Just saw they reduced the price again for a new one - wow

[@deurkl]

BMW is working on a new electric only platform (neue klasse) for the European factories, which will replace the 3 series etc.

[@electricelliotrichards]

I hope they keep the classic BMW 'feel' and don't go too far down the tech and screen route...

[@fryderykbadura2007]

Thanks for the rewiev. Can you change the manu language to english or to others in this car or is only chineese available?

[@raoullaskin9083]

yeah i have the I4 and yes you can change it to English

[@faizurrahman7084]

6:03 - Driving is in the top 90% doesn’t say a lot about it. If it was in the top 10%, maybe… 😊

[@electricelliotrichards]

Haha - brain fart moment.

[@raoullaskin9083]

Oh... another thing is the price. The price is MASSIVELY discounted. You say that it starts at 350K but actually it starts at 230K after discounts.

[@andreasbrunnhofer]

There is actually a sports version of this. Its just called something different and doesnt have the m badge. Its called the i3 edrive 40L yaoye, at least thats what the translator is saying

[@raoullaskin9083]

no its not a sport version... its just a longer range version.

[@martijnkosters9024]

That carbon fibre on the wheel and the arm rest has to go. Sir, this is not a Halfords.

[@Ahmad-m1h4o]

aftermarket

[@baltazarkosa29]

camera-car - it was IM Motors? it will be interesting to see review of this car

[@electricelliotrichards]

Next week

[@omarrr933]

Yas good is BMW ❤

[@coulson_sama]

as a taiwanese in china here, i currently own a bmw i3 and also an ix3, i've driven lots of bmw (both intl. ones and china-only long wheelbase)since F chassis days, and this car just doesn't deliver as much fun as the old bmw, and espacially this i3 which is created with the petrol version in mind, the chassis is extremely low and is a big oof for the roads in china imo. The car does support carplay tho, but no android auto. also the actual acceleration speed from 0-100kph is actually faster than what they say officially, i've done several testing and it was around 5.9s for my i3 35L as shown in vid, and the 40L which is the higher spec model can do 5.4s approx fyr

[@electricelliotrichards]

Good to hear from a proper owner of one of these - what made you buy it in the first place against the other Chinese NEVs? Would be interested in this.

[@coulson_sama]

@@electricelliotrichards First its of course i'm already used to driving a bimmer so i like the way it looks and feels. one of the big reason for me to buy an extra i3 over the ix3 is also kinda mentioned above - although low chassis is bad, but thanks to this disadvantage, driver's seat can be adjusted very low which i find very comfortable for long drive. (here fyr one of the worst of i3's competitor would be the NIO ET5, the seat postion is trash, lots of EV sedans fails to do this) Secondly, i don't really care about intelligence driving and i found BMW L2 ACC (aka 5AU) good enough. And i rather have apple carplay than some other self-made UI. Thirdly, i can actually trust the estimated range as shown in the gauge, BMW has one of the best range estimation in EVs. Last but not least , Lots of Chinese vehicle does not have "easy-to-understand English interface" which i find very annoying. BMW system at least was designed first(originally) with English in mind, so say i dont need to worry after changing language and still find my voice assistant in chinese. So overall for me its basically details that matters, lower tier Bimmer EVs may be master of none but it is certainly jacks of all trade!

[@electricelliotrichards]

@@coulson_sama Really good insight and a balance to the Chinese EVs are all the best and amazing argument! BMW needs to capitalise on this.

[@yuzhenwang8103]

What made you buy this BMW i3 edrive over Tesla Model 3?

[@coulson_sama]

@@yuzhenwang8103 I dislike a lot of minor things about Tesla, I don’t like there’s no gauge, no gear selector, no physical blinker switch. The rear seats are trash, the speakers on the base model are ‘meh’, no CarPlay, the quality overall is not that good and the way they tuned the vehicle (accelerator and brakes) does not match my preference. However I DO RESPECT Tesla, I don’t dislike them as a brand just that maybe I’m not used to it yet. I find Tesla more like a toy than a vehicle imo. And it’s also something I would consider as my third or fourth vehicle if I’m lucky enough to make good money ;)

[@mdilwarh]

You can buy this in Egypt

[@waseemsfun5]

How many horse power 🔋

[@duileyah]

EU doesn’t have the infrastructure for this model to make sense, yet it struggles to compete with domestic brands in China.

[@iMagic16]

tbh this feel more like what the 3 series should be - generally luxury, but with cheap options overall to bring the price down. Sure, no electric boot or heated seats, but its also 22k. Who cares? you can always spec it western 3 series have turned into spec heavy luxury car which makes you wonder what purpose the 5 or 7 series even has anymore. M3 Touring alone being 110K+ is absolute MADNESS

[@StevenMillward]

seen quite a few of these in China. it's selling fairly well compared to other foreign EVs that don't have a Tesla badge - but that's a very very low bar. BMW has the right idea with this BMW i3 eDrive and the iX3, but the prices are still too high.

[@electricelliotrichards]

Yeh they are popular ish - but it’s the right way to go

[@StevenMillward]

@@electricelliotrichards i considered this i3 last summer before getting a Nio ET5. i made the right choice!

[@fadhil1811]

bmw i4 m50 is a nice car.

[@AhuraMzd]

so lucky to live in china 😭 , the rest of the world we keep buying expensive car cos the gov ask for more tax, cos the manufacture sell what ever price they want . dealer is shitty ! , roads sucks ! go china ! . viva la china !

[@Astke]

This i3 seems like a compliance car. BMW makes way better cars here in Europe like the i4. Not sure what this one is even trying to do.

[@zahabimandegi7129]

What is this thingy you reviewing?

[@SydneyEV]

I prefer the original i3! smaller is better

[@موسى_7]

BMW fans hate the i3. But I am not aBMW fan. I'm a fan of Asian cars.

[@jeffreyherba8435]

I would like to buy it just because it doesn't have a button to close the boot!

[@karlInSanDiego]

Yes, placing a motor and soft close means it will eventually fail and leave you with an unforced error. Same with all those useless Chinese (and Tesla Model X) electric doors. Definitely not thinking about the efficiency and longevity of a car when you load them up with unneeded garbage that bloat weight/cost/unreliability.

[@JonathanPriceUK]

My 2020 Model 3 long range has a manual boot close but that always bugged me, yet I had never had anything other than manual close boot lids. Now just swapping to a 2021 Polestar 2 and the boot close is so good. Funny how it now seems annoying to have a manual close

[@godofdun]

*Cries in American*

[@electricelliotrichards]

sorrrry

[@godofdun]

@@electricelliotrichards We are usually why we can't have nice things lol

[@jwickerszh]

It's indeed "meh", feels too old, and costs too much. In a world without alternatives though, it's pretty good.

[@electricelliotrichards]

Spot on.

[@Astke]

Meanwhile i4 sold in europe: near 600 km real world range. 81 kWh battery, 210 kW charging, 1 charge port flap instead of 2, newer Infotainment, nicer interior. This i3 seems worse than even smaller EVs of BMW sold here. Like the iX1.

[@CedefZ]

pretty sure they came with apple carplay lol.

[@JoakimLaine]

Its funny BMW cant make and sell cars in Europe that everybody loves.

[@someoneneintown]

If you just want to lower your CO2 statistics, that's what you end up with. Just average.

[@HugoLawrenceValentin]

No I like the beaver teeth

[@dwftube]

OMG that steering wheel 🤮

[@karlInSanDiego]

We can tell that living/reviewing in the Chinese market makes you very sensitive to the BS tech that Chinese consumers value. But it's fair to say that China is a young automotive market with collective naivete about long term reliability and support for the second most expensive purchase you'll make after housing. To lavish extremely fragile motorized actuation of things unnecessarily makes cars far more disposable, as opposed to holding their value for longer time. This is because cars meet the scrap yard when they cost more to fix than to buy comparable used (or new). Or worse yet, when the manufacturer was one of the 50% that go under after the initial car boom has ended. Globally, manufacturers have been failing at this lesson, and to be fair, manufacturers enjoy a possible short term gain of creating planned obsolescence to a loyal consumer. But the brand (or subbrand or high end model) is eventually deemed stupid to own if the depreciation is far too rapid. BMW 7 series and high end Mercedes 12 cyl. suffered from this problem in the 90s and early 2000s. They were hideously complex and caused great stress to their owners as they demanded constant repair attention and at great expense. On a related note, as a person who studies Sustainable Transportation carefully, and understands that full sized cars/SUVs/pickups (EV or ICE) are completely UNSUSTAINBLE, it makes me sad to see the rapid transformation of China from the land of the bicycle, to the the land of the e-bike, to the land that ripped out their bike infrastructure and temporarily sprinted to become car dependent. This will last less than 10 more years, and the Chinese will have already peaked as US and European markets have done. I'd say enjoy it while it lasts, but it's shameful that China went this route, just as it's shameful that it's taking the USA and Europe soo long to understand that we cannot possibly use single occupancy full sized EVs in a zero carbon scenario.

[@electricelliotrichards]

I am in agreement with you - micro mobility is the solution and China is one of the world leaders in this space - cities still have dedicated bike lanes, battery swapping for e-bike etc - but there has been too much city development based around cars. I would like us to reach peak car at some point in the future.

[@Skkj0802]

Nonsensical drivel

[@karlInSanDiego]

@@Skkj0802 Have your read climate reports and manufacturer's impact reports? Or are you stating that the Climate Crisis is drivel?

[@someoneneintown]

Who buys that ish? Sorry. No.

[@olevegn]

Idiotic bmw….. SELL IT IN NORWAY!!!!!!!

[@neohideo]

not BMW, CMW - Chinese Motoren Werke

[@Skkj0802]

Either way it's garbage compared to Chinese brands

[@pingqiu7318]

It's sold at $22,000 in China